Friday, July 28, 2017

"Girls ~ Believe in Yourself!"

Sophia
Gregoire Trudeau kicked off a

United
Nations-led girls' conference in Washington.

Submitted
by Sean Kilpatrick of The Canadian Press,

the
following are excerpts from his article.

Washington:
Sophia Gregoire began with a pep talk, urging young womento believe in themselves and in their ability to shape the world. The prime minister's wife referred to her own past eating disorder
and talked about the ways young girls often lack confidence in their
appearance or in their ability.

She opened the Girl Up Leadership Summit Monday, urging hundreds of
young women in attendance to 'fight back against that lack of
confidence.' She also promoted Canadian international development
programs tailored to helping women. Gregoire said, “It's a basic
economic truism that societies with empowered women are more
prosperous.”

“When
women rise, men rise as well...it's based on facts. We've more women
in the boardroom...more women in classrooms...more women in community
life. We can inject peace and compassion.”

She received an ovation from the crowd at the beginning and at the end.

She concluded by paraphrasing the South Asian-Canadian poet Rupi
Kaur,

who wrote about her heart aching for
sisters more than anything.

“My
heart aches for women helping women...like flowers ache for spring,”Gregoire
Trudeau said. “You are loved, girls...I wish you could see just
how beautiful you are...

and how possible it is to 'self-love...and be at peace .”

Farah
Mohamed's G(irls) 20

A Canadian citizen, living in Toronto for many years, who is the
“Founder, Advisor and CEO of G(irls)20” which galvanizes the
world's greatest resource ~ girls and women ~ and cultivates a new
generation of leaders through education, entrepreneurship and global
experience. Farah knows the power of making an impact at a national
and international level.

As a small girl she immigrated with her family

from Uganda to Canada, settling in Southern Ontario.

Through Farah's G(irls)20, launched in 2009, she organizes an annual
global 'summit' that takes place in the G20 host country with one
delegate from each G20 country plus a representative from the
European and African Unions, from Afghanistan, Pakistan and the MENA
region. Delegates participate in workshops focused on building
their skills in technology, entrepreneurism, community and
leadership. The past 'summits' have taken place in Toronto,
Canada...in Paris, France...Mexico City...Moscow, Russia...Sydney,
Australia...and Instanbul, Turkey.

Like me, you may question what the '20' represents.

I
contacted her mother, Dilu ( a personal friend who resides in
Burlington),

the
significance of '20'...I had guessed, concluding it may be for the
20th
century.

The
Malala Fund:
Of this charity located in England, Farah is the CEO. Designed for
every girl in the world to Learn and Lead without fear. “Malala is
a Pakistani student and education activist who began speaking out for
girls' education at the age of 11. After surviving an assassination
attempt by the Taliban at age 15...and residing now in the UK with
her family, she co-founded The
Malala Fund
with her father in 2014. She is the youngest ever 'Nobel Laureate'.
Malala Fund champions every girl's right to 12 years of free, safe,
quality education.

A
Dundas resident responds: Canada's
government should be complimented for supporting women's rights for
contraceptives and abortions. The planet, that bishops claim was
created by their God, cannot handle the increasing mass of Homo
sapiens. The irresponsibility of the Catholic bishops to encourage
this mess is creating famines...and ultimately the problem will be
solved by bombs if they have their way. Already, we are watching the
massive decrease and in some cases the disappearance of other
species God created. The phrase, “Be fruitful and multiply”
should be removed from Genesis.

Oath
of Today's Girl

“I
have a brilliant heartand
a beautiful mind...I am Me: a perfectly flawed, beautiFULL work in
progress, I promise to lift other girls up...have their backs...and
make it safe for them to be exactly who they are. I am on a mission
to raise the standards for how we treat each other...how we treat
ourselves...and how we treat the world. Every time I look in the
mirror, I'll remind myself that I'm not alone...that I'm
beautiful...that my voice matters...that I'll be enough to have an
impact on others!”

2 comments:

"What a positive way of handling a situation. There is a lot to learn from this. Thanks Merle. I do have a situation where I'd like to try it out ~ only that the child will not be with me for a period where I could see the progress."